* * *
Inside one of the black helicopters, Feng Xu sat, grinning.
“Excellent,” he said into the cell phone pressed to his ear and ended the call.
Chin might have managed to kill the Black Snake God, but the Chinese government would not be so easily vanquished. Earlier, Feng Xu had called for reinforcements. Now, the members of dozens of secret spy cells were converging on the town with enough firepower to level Middleburg. Of course his opponent—the foolish, overcautious Agent Hackett—would have called for reinforcements, too. Most of them had already arrived. But they, like Hackett, would be cautious, fearful of needless destruction or the taking of innocent lives, and that is why Feng Xu would be victorious. That is why, within hours, the ring would be his. They had already located it: it was in the tower of the church, and it was emanating an unmistakable beacon of light, like the beam of a lighthouse. Now, all that remained was to gather his forces, go into the church, and take it.
* * *
“Damn it! You’re sure?” Hackett snarled over the deafening rotors of the helicopter.
Agent Jones nodded.
So the ring was definitely inside the church—which was also where hundreds of civilians were now gathering. That’s just great, Hackett thought. It was a nightmare scenario. Either they go in and snag the ring, which would likely result in a firefight with perhaps dozens of civilian casualties, or they sit back and let the Order grab it and try to catch them with it afterward—and risk letting them escape. He knew that the latter choice was not an option. If Feng Xu’s people got their hands on the ring and weaponized it, that could result in millions of casualties. He had to go with the lesser of two evils. They had to get the ring now.
“Lieutenant Sanders—what do you think about dropping some snipers on the roof of the church?” Hackett shouted up to the pilot. Sanders looked down at Middleburg United, then shook his head.
“It’s a no-go, sir,” Sanders said. “The pitch is too steep. The roof is slate—it’s slippery—and it’s too windy.
With a mumbled curse Hackett sat back in his seat, frustrated. How had this operation gone sideways on him so fast? Only yesterday he’d been confident that this mission was going to be the key to a big promotion, a fat salary, and a cushy desk job in D.C. Now, there was collateral damage and probably civilian casualties as well, and if he didn’t secure the ring now, he’d be lucky to avoid a demotion—or worse, World War III.
“All right, bring us down,” he said finally. “We’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way. Have all units rendezvous in the field north of Spinnacle Restaurant. We’ll proceed south on Golden Avenue by Humvee and on foot. We’ll surround the church and secure the ring while you provide air support.”
Jones looked at him, wide-eyed. “There are hundreds of civilians down there, sir. If we get into a fire fight in front of that church—”
“No one asked for your opinion, Jones,” Hackett snapped. “I don’t care if Black Ops has to come in and bulldoze this whole miserable town. I’m getting that ring, and I’m getting it now.”
* * *
The sounds of gunfire and explosions outside had risen to a terrifying cacophony. Aimee’s hands were trembling, and it was all she could do to keep from slipping out of Middleburg altogether and going someplace calm—like the Bahamas. She pushed the thought out of her mind and tried to focus on the conversation that was happening as she, Zhai, Nass, Maggie, and Chin discussed what to do next, but her eyes kept drifting to the faces in the crowd around her: the frightened children, the concerned mothers, the blustering fathers. Anne Pembrook and Mr. Brighton were walking among them, trying to keep everyone calm.
At that moment, the huge wooden door to the church swung open and a young man came in.
The Flatliners and Toppers stood in a restless group at the back of the church talking among themselves. When the intruder came in, they all hurried to his side. He was the boy who had appeared from thin air when they’d assembled the ring on the mountaintop, Aimee realized. When he’d appeared, she thought he seemed familiar. Now, suddenly, she recognized him. He was the mysterious gunslinger who’d saved her life in 1877 Middleburg. She also knew his name—Raphael—and she remembered Dalton and Maggie talking about him. Still, she couldn’t quite figure out how she knew him.
And then, over their heads, he was looking right at her. He passed through the crowded church and walked right up to her.
“Aimee,” he said, and the sound of her name on his lips sent a shockwave through her soul.
“What?” she began. “You—you’re that guy—how did you get here?”
“Aimee, it’s me—Raphael.”
A sudden emotion she couldn’t understand came over her.
“You know me,” he went on gently. He took her hand. She was surprised at how natural—how right—it felt.
“Okay,” she said. “Dalton, my friends, they all told me that I went to the homecoming dance with you, but honestly, I don’t remember that.”
He moved closer and put his arms around her, and she looked up at him, into his awesome blue-green eyes. “Do you remember this?” he whispered, and he kissed her softly, slowly.
And it all came flooding back to her like a tidal wave, every memory of every moment they had spent together. With the memory, her love came flooding back, too—filling her with the splendor she’d known with their very first kiss.
“Raphael,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. Eagerly she kissed him back and then hugged him close as he held her tightly, his sweet breath caressing her neck and ruffling her hair. She felt like she was waking up from a very long sleep. “How could I forget you?” she said.
“It wasn’t you.” Maggie came forward then. “It was Orias.” She looked at Raphael. “He put some kind of spell on her. I’m not sure how he did it, but she kind of lost touch with all of us for a while.”
“Oh, God—Orias,” she said. “Raphael, how will I ever make that up to you?” She wanted to say more, to try to find answers, to explain—to herself, most of all—but at that moment Chin approached.
“Master Chin, Oberon is here,” Raphael said. “He took the ring up to the bell tower—and now there’s this crazy light coming out of it.”
A shadow of worry crossed Chin’s face. “Let’s go,” he said.
* * *
Maggie fought to hold back her tears as she watched Aimee and Raphael. She had imagined many times what Aimee and Raphael’s reunion would be like, and she’d always imagined herself crying tears of bitterness and rage, but that’s not what she felt now. She actually felt happy for them. All the jealousy she’d felt for Aimee over the last few months had somehow melted away, like snow on the first warm day of spring. She couldn’t believe how mean and selfish she’d been. Aimee loved Raphael, and he loved her. They were both her friends, and if their happiness meant she would have to forget about her feelings for Raphael, then that’s what she would do. Anyway, there were more pressing things to worry about than her miserable love life.
After some discussion, the group settled on a plan: Nass, Benji, Josh, and Beet would remain downstairs with Michael, Dax, D’von, and Cle’von so they could bar the door and make sure everyone stayed safe, while Chin took Raph, Zhai, Aimee, and Maggie up the stone steps leading to the bell tower. As they passed through the narrow weathered door that led to the area where the bells hung, Maggie braced herself for the sight of Oberon’s face, which Aimee had described as scarred and black but also eerily beautiful—but instead she found only a wooden platform with three huge bells hanging above it, all silhouetted by a blinding light. Chin led them to the other side of the bells, and there they found the source of the glow.
It was the ring.
Middleburg’s treasure was set into an ancient ornately carved stone altar that looked as if it had been made specifically for the ring to sit in.
The illumination that filled the space shone out of the south-facing arch of the bell tower in a powerful beam.
After taking in the sight of the ring, Maggie looked in the direction the beam was pointing. She felt a sense of vertigo, as if she were staring into a telescopic lens that was zooming in at hyper speed—and suddenly she could see all the way across town, to the mouth of the north train tunnel, perhaps two miles away. Its black entrance was now ringed in a bright, sizzling purplish light, and from it poured thousands of creatures: hideously deformed men, snarling demons, beautiful shadow angels with skin the color of ash and wings as black as midnight. They bore heavy shields, glinting swords, wicked machine guns, chain saws, spears, pitchforks, scythes, and hand grenades. She watched, appalled, as they formed columns and began marching toward her—toward the church. That’s when she heard Aimee calling her name. The vision disappeared, and she fell to her knees.
“Maggie—are you all right?” Aimee was asking, concerned.
Maggie blinked as everything around her came into focus again. “The gate to the Dark Territory is open,” she said hoarsely. “A horrible army is coming this way.”
Chin nodded gravely. “Aimee,” he said. “Can you take me to my house, fast? I have weapons there that will help us.”
“Yes,” Aimee said. She looked at Raphael and kissed him again. “This is going to seem very strange,” she said. “I’ll tell you all about it when we have more time.” And then she took Chin’s hand and slipped.
For a moment Raphael stared at the spot Aimee had vacated, and then he shook his head. Nothing that happened in Middleburg should surprise him anymore, Maggie thought.
Raphael helped Zhai get Maggie to her feet.
“You okay?” Raph asked, and Maggie waited for the rush of feeling and the rapid heartbeat she always felt whenever he touched her—but it didn’t come. It was kind of sad, she thought. But it was also a big relief.
“Yeah, I’m good,” she said. “What now?” She looked from Raphael to Zhai.
“I’m not sure,” Zhai said.
“I don’t suppose we can just grab the ring and shut the portal?” Raphael suggested. They all looked at the ring. The altar was made of rose quartz and carved with all sorts of strange symbols. The ring sat perfectly in a circular groove that had been carved into its center.
Zhai reached for it, and then stopped. “I don’t know,” he said. “It looks like this is where it belongs—where it’s supposed to be. Where it should have been all along.”
Raphael nodded. “Shen is telling me the same thing. Anyway, Maggie said the army was already through the gate, right?”
Maggie nodded.
“No point in taking it out of its rightful place, then,” Raphael said. “It’s probably safer here, anyway.”
He looked up, and Maggie noticed that there was a spiral staircase leading upward from the altar where the ring sat. And it was made of pure light.
“What do you think is up there?” she asked.
“Beats me,” Raphael said. “But I don’t think now is the time to explore it and find out.” He gazed out of the bell tower. Off to the northwest, they could see the U.S. troops forming up in the field behind Spinnacle, as if preparing to march. Downtown, several large Obie helicopters had landed on building rooftops. Black-clad snipers were positioning themselves on the corners of buildings while the rest of the Chinese troops streamed down fire escapes to the street below, where they moved toward Middleburg United like columns of swarming ants.
“I guess we go back down and get ready for the war the Magician warned us about,” Raphael said.
“A war to end all wars,” Zhai agreed darkly. He headed toward the steps, but Raphael stopped him.
“Hey, Zhai,” he said, and his rival turned around. Raphael stared at his shoes for a second before raising his eyes to meet Zhai’s. “Before we do this . . . in case something happens to one of us . . . I owe you an apology. While I was gone I traveled through time. I was in Middleburg, the day that my dad died in your father’s factory. I saw what happened. It wasn’t an accident. Oberon and Jack killed him.”
“Oberon and Jack?” Zhai repeated.
Raph nodded. “I made a mistake when I accused your family of being responsible for his death. I was just so angry . . . I guess I had to blame someone. But I was wrong, and I’m sorry.”
Zhai took Raphael’s outstretched hand and shook it.
“Apology accepted,” Zhai said.
“Good, then let’s go,” Maggie said impatiently. “Those armies are coming fast.”
When they’d reached the bottom of the bell tower’s staircase, Dalton appeared from the crowd and grabbed Raphael’s arm.
“It’s about time you got here!” she exclaimed joyfully. “Your little brother or sister is about to be born—right now. Come on!” And she pulled him toward Lily Rose’s temporary delivery room.
* * *
Minutes later, Raphael was holding his mom’s hand, and between contractions she was kissing it and telling him how glad she was to see him. It wasn’t long before Nass came rushing in.
“Hey, Raph—whoa,” he said, averting his eyes when he saw Raphael’s mom lying on the delivery table, her knees up and one of the church’s white linen tablecloths draped over her lower half.
“Come on in, Nass,” Savana joked. “Pull up a chair.”
“Yeah,” said Emily Banfield. “The more the merrier.”
“No,” said Lily Rose, serious. “Say what you came to say and then get on out of here. I need room to work.”
“We’ve gotta go,” Nass said, still embarrassed. “Come on, Raph. They’re back.”
Raphael followed him out to the church’s courtyard where Chin and Aimee were waiting. The four black horses Zhai had given Chin for his last birthday were there, fidgeting nervously as two fighter jets streaked past overhead. Three large black steamer trunks sat on the ground, and Master Chin was throwing them open.
“Time is short!” he said. “Assemble everyone now. We must protect the church and the Staircase of Light. Get the others.”
“You got it,” Nass said and headed off. “Hey, guys!” he shouted as he went. “Come out here!”
Zhai had found his way out to the courtyard, too, and Raphael walked over to the open trunks with him. One was filled with weapons—swords mostly, with some clubs, maces, knives, and other assorted weapons, and even a few guns mixed in. There were also sais—pointed metal batons with curved prongs attached to the handle. The second trunk was full of what looked like a bunch of white T-shirts, except they were made of shiny cloth that Raphael guessed was satin or silk.
“Put one on and grab a weapon. We got your swords, too,” Chin said, handing Raphael the samurai sword he’d taken from the creepy dead samurai warrior he’d vanquished in Maggie Anderson’s house a couple of months before. Chin handed Zhai a medieval hand-and-a-half sword that Raphael knew he’d pilfered from the four knights he’d conquered in the locomotive graveyard during that same strange battle.
Zhai was pulling on one of the weird T-shirts, and Raphael noticed that Chin and Aimee had already put them on. “What are these?” he asked, pulling one on over the shirt he was already wearing.
“Lily Rose made them. They’ll protect you,” Chin said, adjusting one of the horse’s saddles. Raphael remembered how Dalton had survived the collapse of Middleburg High’s gymnasium while wearing a dress Lily Rose had made for her. He wasn’t sure if her shirts would stop a bullet or a supernatural sword, but it sure wouldn’t hurt to be wearing one.
By then, the rest of the Toppers and Flatliners had assembled in the courtyard, and they had all picked out weapons. Benji had a pirate cutlass and Beet was holding a spiked mace. Josh grabbed a bow, a tomahawk, and a pair of brass knuckles. The Cunningham brothers each took a massive bastard-sword, while Michael and Da
x picked out a couple of guns and hunting knives. Nass grabbed a pair of sais that he thought would work well with his capoeira fighting style. Kate took a shotgun.
“I don’t know if I can use this thing,” she quipped. “But I wouldn’t want to take a sword to a gun fight, to be sure.” She also found a satchel of hand grenades and slung it over her shoulder. Maggie was hanging back, and Raphael smiled as he watched Aimee approach her.
“Here, Maggie. I swung by the school and got this for you,” Aimee said as she took something from a backpack. It was the Middleburg High homecoming crown that Maggie had worn twice before—once at the dance and once when she was fighting off the terrifying Black Snake God of the Obies. “I thought you might like it better than a bazooka or something.”
“Thanks, Aimes,” Maggie said, placing the crown on her head. Instantly, she was bathed in a glow that was beautiful—and a little scary.
“We’d better get ready,” Nass said nervously. “I can feel all three armies getting close.”
Chin nodded to Raphael. “Raphael, you, Zhai, Maggie, and Aimee will ride the horses and lead the charge. The rest of us will follow you.”
“Me?” Aimee asked, incredulous.
“Have a little confidence in yourself,” Zhai said. “I’ve seen you fight. You’re good.”
“And you rode horses at that boarding school of yours, didn’t you?” Dalton asked.
Aimee shrugged. “Almost every day but . . .”
Raphael stepped close to her and squeezed her hand. “You can do it,” he said. She smiled up at him, and it was all he could do not to grab her and kiss her again. She took the reins of her horse and climbed on.
They were all ready to ride out when Chin turned to Dalton. “One last thing,” he said. “We can’t have the people inside the church panicking when this all goes down. Dalton, maybe you can sing them a little lullaby to keep them calm and safe?”
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